The Eagles seem to have their head coaching search narrowed down to a final four. We already outlined the pros and cons of hiring Josh McDaniels and Duce Staley. Now we look to another candidate: Todd Bowles.
Pros: Todd Bowles is a defensive wiz. Look no further than his unit’s performance against the Saints in the divisional round of the playoffs this year. Even including Jameis Winston’s 56-yard touchdown pass on a trick play, Bowles’ defense held the high flying Saints offense to 20 points. Michael Thomas, who set the record for receptions last season, didn’t have a single catch. The defense forced four turnovers. It was a masterpiece.
Having a defensive-minded coach can be good for the offense, too. Bowles can delegate the offensive game plan to one guy who spreads the work throughout his team while he focuses on the defense. This is a stark difference between Doug Pederson designing the offense, installing the plays then calling them on game day. With much less on his plate, he can ensure the team is functioning perfectly.
Like Duce Staley, Bowles knows what it means to coach in Philadelphia because he coached here in 2012 as the secondary coach and interim defensive coordinator. He went to college at Temple, for what it’s worth.
He’s a well-traveled coach, having been a part of a plethora of coaching staffs’. He currently serves under Bruce Arians. He’s coached alongside Andy Reid and Bill Parcells, too.
Cons: Bowles coached the Jets from 2015-18 and they were bad. He accumulated a 24-40 record in four full seasons. After that the question begs to be asked, is Bowles one of those guys who is only good as a coordinator? The world may never know until he gets another shot as a head coach.
As well-traveled as Bowles is, who knows which coaches he’ll hire to fill his staff. Chan Gailey was his offensive coordinator in New York, and the Miami Dolphins recently fired him. Would you trust him to fix Carson Wentz or develop Jalen Hurts after the Fins decided he wasn’t the guy to coach up Tua Tagovailoa? I don’t think so.
This isn’t to say Gailey and Bowles are a packaged deal, but no one knows who will come along with him. Say Bowles finds the next hottest guy: a Brian Daboll-type, he’ll just be poached away in a few years leaving the team in dire need of a new, good offensive coordinator. It doesn’t seem like a recipe for success when the quarterback room is already in shambles. They need stability more than anything.
In conclusion: He’s a damn fine defensive coordinator, has a ton of connections to successful coaches but the jury’s still out on if he’ll be a good head coach the second time around.
